


Space is the ultimate freedom and the ultimate cold

by AliaMael



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen, Jotunn Loki (Marvel), Loki (Marvel) Needs a Hug, Odin (Marvel)'s A+ Parenting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-29
Updated: 2019-05-29
Packaged: 2020-03-29 09:28:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,609
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19017133
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AliaMael/pseuds/AliaMael
Summary: This picks up directly where Raven_Ehtar'sSpoils of Warleft, so read it first, otherwise it's not gonna make sense ;) (Also it's a great fic which deserves reading.)Loki may not be a prisoner anymore, but he still cannot say he has a place to be. Tony may be wanting to help, but he's only one man.





	Space is the ultimate freedom and the ultimate cold

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Raven_Ehtar](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Raven_Ehtar/gifts).
  * Inspired by [Spoils of War](https://archiveofourown.org/works/18786961) by [Raven_Ehtar](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Raven_Ehtar/pseuds/Raven_Ehtar). 



> After reading Raven_Ehtar's [Spoils of War](https://archiveofourown.org/works/18786961), I couldn't help but wonder what could happen next. This is my take on it. I know it ends abruptly, but for now it's all that I have =) Hope you enjoy it still!

Getting out was exhilarating. _Fighting_ was exhilarating. To use magic –even if it was not exactly _his_ magic, but more the magic of the artifact– was like the first breath after you almost pass out from drowning.

It was enough to let him forget how frail he had become, how difficult it was for him to run alongside his new comrades. How he was not the person he had been the last time he went through these corridors anymore.

Somehow, they all made it back to the ship the Midgardians had come in. He didn't think Midgard had that advanced a technology. Come to think of it, he didn't think either that all people here _were_ from Midgard. They were…

They were too many. Too much. With the high of the fight fading, he was suddenly overwhelmed by everything. The light was too luminous, the sounds too noisy. The voices he couldn't even discern. A small part of him wanted to crawl back to his cell, to the peaceful darkness and silence. But he couldn't move anyway. His legs felt like jelly and it took all of his concentration to just stay upright.

The only thing anchoring him, the only thing feeling real enough to reassure him it was not _all_ a dream was the Casket in his hands. But maybe he had been hallucinating all the people.

He didn't know anymore.

***

Of course, everyone was talking at the same time, trying to pry explanations out of Tony about the blue guy. Which Tony could totally understand. Hey, even himself wasn't quite sure what had happened here! But Loki could more than hold his own into a fight, and that was after god knows how much time in a cell. He would make a formidable ally. If Tony could convince the others, that was.

Natasha and Clint were considering the new guy, their expression guarded, in what Tony called their evaluation mode. Steve was obviously displeased by the surprise Tony had spun on him, but he wasn't completely hostile to Loki.

Thor had open distrust on his face, and that was enough to put Tony off balance. This was the guy who had gone and befriended a declared enemy, making her a part of the team, and now he was so clearly opposed to someone who had so far been on their side? There was a whole layer of meaning that Tony was lacking here, and he was about to ask about it –well, try to ask through the argument still going on around him– when he took a look at Loki.

The ex-prisoner didn't seem to be doing so good. He was clutching at his magical thingy more like it was a security blanket than a powerful weapon, and his eyes were unfocused. Now that Tony was looking at him, it was clearly visible that he was shivering and that he flinched every time someone got louder to speak over someone else.

"Alright everybody, question time is over for now!" Tony announced. "We'll talk when Blueberry here can answer without tripping over his own brain."

That seemed to be enough to make the team realise the sorry state Loki was in.

"Everyone gets to their post," Steve ordered, "and Tony takes care of his new friend. Questions?"

The team dispersed on the ship, leaving Tony alone with Loki.

"I think he may be in shock, Sir," Jarvis pointed through the armor Tony still hadn't taken out.  
"No joke J."

Tony gently grabbed Loki's elbow and tried to pull him to a cabin. After maybe three or four steps, Loki's knees gave up and Tony was suddenly glad he still had his armor to help him carry the guy. Loki didn't seem really unconscious, but it was a close thing. He wasn't showing any awareness that he was being carried, anyway.

Tony's admiration for the guy went up a notch or two. He was in that bad a state, but he had managed to perfectly hide it while negotiating his liberation in the Vault, and he had shown himself a skilled fighter during the escape. That demanded more than just a little strength of will.

He couldn't help but look forward to speaking with the guy once he was at his best.

***

He woke up to darkness and silence. The Vault. He had to be in the Vault. It had all be a dream…

He must have made a sound because suddenly there was a voice, startling him.

"You alright there?"

Though the voice was gentle and soft, he couldn't help his reflex to _back up_ , as far as possible. His back hit a wall, and it seemed to unlock his perceptions.

There was darkness. There was silence. But it was a real bed under him, not the hard plank trying to masquerade as one he had in his cell. And against his chest, clutched even through his unconsciousness, was the Casket, solid and _real_.

"Where…" he began before wincing at how rough and unsteady his voice was. He tried again. "Where am I?"

He didn't voice his other questions. What had happened? How long had he been unconscious? How had he gotten here? He had already shown way too much weakness. It was time to convince the people here that he was useful and not a liability.

(Not the monster he was.)

"You're in our Midgardian spaceship. We're out of reach of the Asgardian forces, as far as we can tell. The rest of the trip should be a nice little cruise, minus the luxury cabins of course."

He finally placed the voice. It was… Tony? The man who made the deal to let him out of his cage. Had he been here with him the whole time he was unconscious? That thought had him tense with uneasiness. But also maybe a little bit of (stupid, stupid!) warmth; as if _anyone_ could _care_ for him.

"You'd be alright with a bit of light?" Tony asked. "Cause I have no idea if these pretty rubies of yours see in the dark, but personally I'm blind as a bat right now."

He tried to ignore the weird comment on his eyes even if it seemed to want to engrave itself in his memory. No point in raising his hopes. The man was just polite _and_ had a strange way of talking. He _could not_ sincerely find his eyes _pretty_.

"Yes," he answered. "Just don't start with full sunlight right in my eyes and it should be alright."  
"No worries Blueberry, I like my eyes functioning too."

Blueberry…? Was this man _serious_?

***

Tony had provided him with water, food, unending chatter and clothes not exactly his size but still better than his prison garb. He was sated, his throat less raw, he felt more secure than he had been in years and Tony's voice had acquired quite an hypnotic quality as time went on. His body was fully ready to lure him back to sleep, but his mind knew there was something more important to do before being allowed to rest some more.

"Maybe your comrades would like to talk to me?" he suggested, cutting Tony right in the middle of a sentence.  
"Oh yeah, that they would, for sure," Tony agreed, "but they can wait until you feel good enough."

He couldn't help but stare at the man. His mind refused to wrap itself around this declaration. Was Tony seriously trying to… what, preserve him? Protect him? Why would he do that?

"I can talk," he pointed. "Unless you Midgardians tend to be more… physical in your presentations?"  
"No one is gonna fight in this ship," declared Tony, apparently ready to separate any belligerents by himself.

Which was somewhat comical, because now that he could see the man out of his armor, he was not that physically impressive. Solidly built, sure, but not a warrior. But maybe Tony had some magic to himself. He couldn't know yet.

A handful of minutes later, Loki was seated in a larger room which was rapidly filling with the crew members. He affected a calm assurance, but he was uneasy. Tony had obviously accepted him already, but his comrades were still a huge unknown.

And then Thor entered the room.

Thor, who fixed him without even trying to hide his disgust. Thor, whose whole body language screamed "hostility".

Thor, who he had loved and jealoused with the intensity you can only give to someone who's an inalienable part of your life. And who now didn't even recognize him.

Someone cleared their throat and he realised everyone was looking at him now. His heart's rate staying stable only because it wanted at the same time to skyrocket and stop, he faced his former brother.

"I am Loki."

Confusion, incredulity, and then realisation covered Thor's face.

"Why are you affecting such a vile disguise?" Thor asked, outraged. "Drop this illusion right away!"  
"This is no illusion," Loki answered calmly, a block of lead settling in his stomach. "The Allfather ripped the glamour _he_ put on me, and stripped me of my magic, leaving only the bare minimum for me to survive and the Casket to stay in one piece. I am unable to disguise the truth, no matter how much I would prefer it."

Thor got up, a thunderous expression masking all his other emotions, and left the room without another word.

"… I take it you know each other," someone commented.

Loki could only shake his head. He didn't know who Thor had become after his banishment. Thor didn't know the monster he truly was.

Besides, his throat was too tight to allow speak right now.


End file.
